ONBOARDING TIMELINE
Typical timeline: 2–6 weeks, depending on readiness.
The onboarding journey spans multiple tracks working in parallel across three main phases:
Typical Timeline
2–6 weeks
Offer embedded capital inside your platform
Slate helps platforms offer working capital to their customers with minimal engineering lift and a clear, structured onboarding process. This page explains everything required to go live with capital offers delivered inside your product.
PHASE 1 — PRE-ONBOARDING
The goal of Pre-Onboarding is to confirm platform eligibility, understand your data, align responsibilities, and agree on commercial terms.
Platform Eligibility
Slate first determines whether and how your platform can support embedded capital. This step determines the underwriting approach and data requirements for the rest of onboarding.
Platform Eligibility Checklist
| Item | Explanation | Guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Platform KYB | Confirm the platform entity and ownership structure. | Provide legal entity name, EIN, incorporation docs, ownership details, and primary contacts. |
| Customer Data Assessment | Understand what customer data exists and how it can be used for underwriting. | Identify which customer attributes you can pass: business profile, revenue signals, transaction history, invoices, payment performance, etc. |
| Underwriting Model Path | Choose the underwriting approach based on available data. | Full data (you pass data), no data (referral), or hybrid (you pass what you have, Slate enriches via bank or accounting connections). |
| Customer KYB/KYC Approach | Decide who handles verification for your customers. | Platform handles, Slate handles, or hybrid (Slate fills gaps). |
Tech (Pre-Onboarding)
Integration Readiness Checklist
Explore Slate's sandbox environment and choose the integration path that best fits your platform's architecture and customer experience.
| Item | Explanation | Guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Explore Sandbox | Validate basic connectivity and understand Slate flows. | Use sandbox credentials and test basic requests. |
| Select Integration Path | Choose how capital will be embedded. | Options: Slate hosted application, embedded components, or direct API integration. |
| Customer Experience Mapping | Document the intended customer journey for capital offers. | Provide user flow diagram or written description showing where and how customers will discover, apply for, and accept capital. This ensures alignment before implementation begins. |
| Identify Required Events | Define what events and data you will send to Slate. | At minimum: customer identity, business details, and any available performance signals. |
| Confirm Pilot Scope | Decide what subset of customers will be eligible initially. | Narrow segments reduce friction and shorten time to launch. |
Legal (Pre-Onboarding)
Legal Alignment Checklist
Align on commercial terms, legal responsibilities, and data sharing permissions before finalizing agreements. Slate provides all required legal language and templates.
| Item | Explanation | Guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Agree on Commercial Terms | Align on pilot scope, pricing, and economics. | Finalized in Term Sheet phase, but align here. |
| Define Legal Responsibilities | Clarify which party owns which obligations. | Define roles for customer support, servicing, communications, and disputes. By default, Slate maintains full legal responsibility of all loans. |
| Data Sharing Review | Ensure you can share customer data with Slate. | Confirm your platform terms allow this or plan updates. Slate provides recommended language for your Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. |
| Consent Approach | Confirm how borrower consent will be captured. | Platform captures consent before calling Slate APIs. Slate provides the exact consent language and placement guidance. |
| Final Legal Validation | Final review before go-live. | Confirm borrower liability, disclosures, and data sharing terms. |
Operations (Pre-Onboarding)
Responsibilities Checklist
Set up operational workflows for borrower communications, escalations, and internal coordination. Slate handles all loan servicing, compliance, and operational execution by default. Slate's core value is that platforms do not need to build or operate lending infrastructure. Platforms only participate operationally if they explicitly choose to.
| Item | Explanation | Guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Customer Support Ownership | Determine who handles borrower questions. | Platform, Slate, or shared. Define escalation path. |
| Servicing Ownership | Determine who manages repayment related workflows. | Clarify reminders, failed payments, follow-ups, and collections handling. |
| Funding Ownership | Determine who initiates and confirms funding actions. | Usually Slate, but align on communications and confirmations. |
| Approvals and Signatures | Determine who collects borrower approvals or signatures. | Align on borrower agreement acceptance and any additional approvals. Usually Slate, but align on this between platform and Slate. |
PHASE 2 — TERM SHEET AND AGREEMENTS
Once Pre-Onboarding is complete, Slate and the platform finalize the commercial structure. No implementation work begins until agreements are signed.
Term Sheet and Agreements Checklist
Review and execute all legal agreements required to launch the embedded capital program. Slate provides standard templates for all documents.
| Item | Explanation | Guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Pilot Details | Define pilot structure and launch plan. | Include pilot cohort, target volume, and success metrics. |
| Payment and Servicing Structure | Confirm how repayments and servicing work. | Confirm whether Slate or platform handles servicing workflows. |
| MSA | Master services agreement required to move forward. | Execute via standard workflow. |
| SOW or Pilot Addendum | Defines scope and pilot commitments. | Attach pilot scope and milestones. |
| Data Sharing Agreement | Defines data rights, consent, and use. | Must match platform consent approach. Slate provides the standard agreement template. |
| Servicing Agreement | Defines servicing responsibilities if applicable. | Include collections responsibilities and escalation paths. Slate provides the servicing agreement template. |
PHASE 3 — IMPLEMENTATION
During Implementation, Slate builds the underwriting model while the platform completes technical, legal, compliance, and operational setup.
Underwriting and Compliance (Implementation)
Underwriting Build Checklist
Slate builds a custom underwriting model using your platform data. This process includes data validation, model calibration, and test offer generation.
| Item | Explanation | Guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Build Underwriting Model | Slate builds a custom model for your platform. | Depends on your available data and the chosen model path. |
| Define Compliance Flow | Define verification and decisioning flow. | Matches customer KYB/KYC approach. |
| Validate Underwriting Inputs | Confirm required fields and data quality. | Provide sample data feeds or schemas early. |
| Pilot Decision Rules | Confirm initial eligibility rules and exceptions. | Keep tight for pilot, broaden later. |
Tech (Implementation)
Tech Checklist
Complete the technical integration including API implementation, consent capture, security requirements, and end-to-end testing. Slate provides detailed integration guides and sandbox support.
| Item | Explanation | Guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Complete Integration (Chosen Path) | Implement Slate hosted, embedded, or API approach. | Use the integration path chosen in Pre-Onboarding. |
| Data Ingest for Underwriting | Slate ingests platform data for decisioning. | Slate will modify ingestion to match your schema. |
| Borrower Consent Capture | Borrowers must authorize data sharing and evaluation. | Store timestamp, consent text version, and user ID. Slate provides the exact consent language and implementation guidance. |
| Offer Presentation and Acceptance | Borrowers must see terms before accepting. | If using Slate hosted, Slate handles. If embedded/API, Slate provides required fields checklist and UI templates. |
| Funding and Repayment Events | Ensure events are correctly handled end-to-end. | Validate any webhooks required for funding and repayment lifecycle. |
| Authenticated User Access | Only authenticated users may view, request, or accept capital offers. | The platform must require user authentication before exposing any capital-related flows. Slate does not prescribe a specific authentication vendor, but authenticated sessions must be securely tied to a unique user identity. Capital acceptance and repayment-related actions must occur within an active authenticated session. |
| Borrower Contact Verification | Reduces fraud risk and ensures reliable borrower communication. | At least one borrower contact method (email or phone number) must be verified before a borrower can accept capital. |
| Idempotency for Capital Actions | Prevents duplicate funding or repayment actions caused by retries or repeated requests. | All capital-related actions (offer acceptance, funding initiation, repayment triggers) must support idempotency. The platform should use unique idempotency keys for any request that could result in a financial action. |
| Secure Storage of Borrower Data | Protects borrower PII and financial data from unauthorized access. | Sensitive borrower data must be encrypted at rest using industry-standard encryption. Access should be limited to authorized systems and personnel only. |
| Secure Transport | Protect borrower data while it is transmitted between systems. | All capital-related traffic must use HTTPS with modern TLS. Unencrypted connections are not permitted for any borrower, funding, or repayment-related flows. |
| Audit Trail for Borrower Actions | Ensures capital-related decisions and actions are traceable for compliance and dispute resolution. | The platform must log borrower creation, consent capture, offer presentation, offer acceptance, funding events, and repayment events with timestamps and unique identifiers. |
| Failure Handling and Visibility | Ensure failed capital events are detected and addressed. | Funding and repayment failures, including webhook retries and rejected payments, must be logged and surfaced for operational review and remediation. |
| End-to-End Testing | Test full borrower lifecycle. | Borrower created, evaluated, offer accepted, funded, repayment events validated. |
Legal (Implementation)
Legal Implementation Checklist
Ensure all legal documents support the embedded capital program, including platform agreements, consent language, and borrower terms. Slate provides all required legal content.
| Item | Explanation | Guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Review Platform Agreements | Ensure consent and data sharing are enforceable. | Confirm platform terms and privacy policy support the program. Slate provides recommended language for both documents. |
| Validate Consent Requirements | Confirm consent collection is correct and auditable. | Consent must be captured before application creation or data sharing. Slate provides the consent language and technical implementation guide. |
| Borrower Agreement | Borrowers must accept capital terms. | Slate provides the complete borrower agreement and implementation guidance. No legal drafting required. |
Compliance (Implementation)
Compliance Checklist
Complete compliance due diligence and security documentation to meet Slate's regulatory and risk requirements. Slate provides templates for all required materials.
| Item | Explanation | Guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Penetration Testing Plan | Confirm testing approach and scope. | Provide recent report if available or commit to completing within required window. Slate can provide a list of qualified testing providers. |
Operations (Implementation)
Operations Checklist
Set up operational workflows for borrower communications, escalations, and internal coordination. Slate handles all loan servicing, compliance, and operational execution by default. Slate's core value is that platforms do not need to build or operate lending infrastructure. Platforms only participate operationally if they explicitly choose to.
| Item | Explanation | Guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Customer Support Setup | Define routing, macros, and escalation. | Slate can support or fully manage if agreed. Slate provides support playbooks, macros, and FAQ templates. |
| Servicing Workflow Setup | Define reminders, failures, and follow-ups. | Slate can handle if agreed. Slate provides templates for payment reminders and borrower communications. |
| Collections Process | Define delinquency and defaults handling. | Slate provides the complete delinquency schedule, escalation flow, and communication templates. |
| Reporting and Reconciliation | Confirm how performance is tracked. | Slate dashboard plus optional platform-side reporting. |
| Escalation Playbook | Define incident and dispute escalation. | Slate provides complete escalation playbook templates and workflow documentation. |
PHASE 4 — ACTIVATION (PRE-PRODUCTION CHECKLIST)
Before Slate enables capital in production, all of the following must be complete.
Pre-Production Activation Checklist
All technical, legal, compliance, and operational requirements must be met before Slate activates capital offers in production. This is the final gate before launch.
| Requirement | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Signed commercial agreements | MSA, pilot/SOW, servicing schedule, data sharing agreement |
| Completed integration | Slate hosted, embedded components, or API flows set up and tested |
| Consent and disclosures implemented | Borrower consent and required marketing disclosures |
| Borrower agreement implemented | Displayed and accepted during offer acceptance |
| All testing passed | End-to-end underwriting, funding, repayment, and webhooks if applicable |
| Support readiness | Support playbooks, macros, escalation paths finalized |
| Servicing readiness | Payment handling and delinquency responsibilities confirmed |
| Compliance approval | All compliance checklist items completed |
| Underwriting model approved | Model reviewed and approved by Slate |
| Ops and escalation matrix | Confirmed with both teams |
| Reserve funded (if applicable) | Only for certain programs |
When all items are completed, Slate activates your capital program and moves you into pilot.
PHASE 5 — PILOT LAUNCH
After activation, the pilot begins.
Pilot Launch Checklist
Monitor live performance, refine underwriting, and validate operational workflows during the pilot phase. Slate and the platform conduct regular reviews to optimize the program.
| Track | What happens | Guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Underwriting and Performance | Live offers turned on and monitored. | Weekly or monthly reviews during pilot. |
| Tech | Monitor drop-offs and errors. | Validate repayment and webhook accuracy. |
| Legal and Compliance | Handle escalations and validate flows. | Confirm disclosures behave correctly in production. |
| Operations and Growth | Launch borrower communications. | Start with targeted cohorts, expand after early performance review. |
PHASE 6 — ONGOING REQUIREMENTS
Once live, the program moves into steady-state operations.
Ongoing Requirements Checklist
Maintain regular performance reviews, operational support, and compliance updates as the program scales. Slate continues to support underwriting, monitoring, and optimization.
| Item | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Monthly performance review | Slate and your team review performance and risk trends |
| Quarterly underwriting updates | Adjust model inputs based on new data |
| Annual penetration test | Required to maintain program security |
| Dispute and complaint reporting | Notify Slate of any borrower escalations |
| Incident reporting within 24 hours | Any data or system incident affecting borrowers |
| Updated marketing and disclosures | Whenever capital programs change materially |